Recoil-absorbing means for firearms



N. J. A. GALLIOT RECOIL ABSORBING MEANS FIOR FIREARMS Filed Nov. l. 1921 2 Sheets-Shui 1 /n/ VENTO@ my 2z 1924.

N. J. A. GALLIOT RECOIL ABSORBING MEANS FOR FIREARMS Filed Nov. l. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented duly 22, 1924.

1,502,558 UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NORBERT JULES ANDR GALLIol, E vAUcREssoN, FRANCE, AssIGNoR or ONE-HALE To GEORGES HENRI LOUIS GASTON BoRY, 0E PARIS, FRANCE.

RECOIL-ABSO'RBING MEANS FOR FIREARMS.

Application led November T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NORBERT JULES ANDR GALLIo'r, a citizen of the French Republic, and a resident of Vaucresson, De-

partment of Seine-et-Oise, France, have invented new and useful Improvements in Recoil-Absorbing Means for Firearms, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to improvements in a firearm provided with one or more recoil-absorbers of the type described in the United States Patent No. 1,333,402, dated March 9, 1920. Each of said recoil absorbers is mounted at the end of the barrel of the fire-arm, coaxially therewith, and rejects the gases of combustion in a backward direction. It comprises a nozzle coaxial with the gun muzzle and arranged in'extension thereof, said nozzle being of divergent shape toward its outer end to afford an expansion chamber, an end closure for the nozzle having a central opening for the passage of the projectile therethrough, and a single annular gas escape passage, opening from the interior to the exterior of the nozzle, said passage being of increasing cross section toward its discharge end to accelerate the escape of gases therethrough.

The gases :resulting from the combustion of the propellant., deected by the recoil-absorber in a rearward direction, have retained a portion of their velocity, so that they constitute an inconvenience and even a danger for the personnel serving the firearm which is provided with the recoil absorber. .1

My present invention consists in the combination, in a fire-arm provided with 'one or more recoil-absorbers of the aforesaid type, of means placed behind said recoil absorber or absorbers for collecting substantially the whole of the gases escaping therefrom and for substantially completing. the expansion of said gases, and of means for allowing said gases after substantially complete expansion to escape into the atmosphere in a direction non-injurious to the personnel.

There may also be provided means for silencing the expanded gases before their exit into the atmosphere.

More specifically, my invention consists in the combination in a fire-arm of a tube, forming a tubular collector and, if neces- 1, 1921. Serial No. 512,078.

vof the weapon; this tube collects the whole,

or at least the greater part, of the gases escaping from the recoil-absorber or absorbers after they have been utilized therein for breaking the recoil, and delivers them after as complete expansion as possible in a direction which is not dangerous for the personnel, thereby avoiding the injuriousblast of gases upon the latter. When this tube is connected to an exhaust expansion chamber with or without a silencer device, it suppresses also the flash of the discharge and a great portion of the noise resulting from the direct escape of the gases to the free air.

It has already been proposed to utilize for the same purpose, a similar tube or sleeve in order to collect the back-blast from a recoilreducing cap arranged at the front of the muzzle of the gun; but this recoil-reducing device consists of a single chamber or casing placed at the front of the gun. On the contrary, the recoil absorber according to the prior United States Patent No. 1,333,402 comprises a nozzle 'and a single reacter surface, of a shape affording a maximum transformation of the internal energy of the propellent gases into kinetic energy, and a maximum velocity and momentum of the gaseous streams at the moment lof their exit from the recoil-absorber, without shocks or eddies.

This combination of the gas-collecting tube, forming a silencer or exhaust chamber, with the type of recoil-absorber according to the prior United States Patent No. 1,333,402, enables an extremely favorable result to be obtained.

Tests, made with a military rifle of the Springfield or United States Army type, provided with a device according to this invention, have shown not only a reduction of the recoil by 60 per cent, but also a reduction of the blast by 100 per cent, of the flash by 100 per cent, and of the travel of the report by 75 per cent.

The accompanying drawings represent by Way of example and in axial longitudinal Section, dilerent forms of constructlon ,of

f the invention.v f

y Figs.y 1 and l8 arey longitudinal sections through'adjacent portions'o't the barrel of a lire-army providedy with my device;

F1g.,2 's a corresponding view of a modiy lication; f

Figs. 3 yand 3a? are yviews similarfto Figs.

f f f l and lEl and show lancther modification; and yFig. elisa longitudinal section through still another modification. f f

In said drawings yFigs-land laJ yrepresent the application of ,they present ldevice to a militaryrriile. The recoil-absorber 1s ofthe type ldescribed 'and' yshown' 1n ythe United States Patent' No.y f 1,333,402, vcomprising aconvergent-,divergent nozzle a mounted imsuitably profiled arms a3.

, ber a1, there are formed in the known man-y ner annular chambers a5 having curved walls, ythis arrangement having lbeen found effective lfor, impedingythe flow of the current of gas following the projectile, -by the l formation of reddyin'g movements'in this cul"-y rent of gas; the use of this last arrangement,

notvotherwiseessential,y has for object tov ensure the rejection through the annular throat as of the vane-member, that is to say in a backward direction, of the greatest possible proportion of the' gases from the burnt charge, and to obstruct the flow of the very small portion which escapes through the central passage a4 in the vane-member.

Upon the rear end of the recoil-absorber there is fitted at c1 a metal tube o forming a silencer or expansion-chamber, arranged around the barrel Z1 of the ril-le and parallel to the latter; this tube -collects the stream of gas which otherwise would tend to spread out into the atmosphere at the exit from the recoil-absorber, and conveys it in a cylindrical flow which is directed into the silencer or exhaust chamber c, like the exhaust gases of an explosion engine at leaving the manifold provided beyond the exhaust valves.

The tube 0 damps or muiiles the gases rejected by the recoil-absorber, as a result of the expansion to which they are subjected in this tube. The latter surrounding the barrel b of the latter is closed at rear end as indicated at o2 and is supported by the barrel by means of a distance piece es; this tube may contain baffles of any suitable shape, for instance a truncated conical baille c* and the pallet-shaped baiie plate c5, the latter directing the gases, which have expanded around the tube c, towards the exyfterior through one or more ports c, It is,

of the shock of the gases striking the pallet 05, which detlects ythem upwards'thr'ough the rport c6, tends toy throw vth'eweapon downf f wards; since the yrecoil tends on' the contrary to raise the barrel, it results that the'function of this baille may'thus he made use-`r f ful in a favourable manner, at least for port able weapons. f

In the. arrangement illustrated,'with the" y tube 'c surrounding thel'iarrely b of the ril-le,

the silencer or expansionechamber vreplaces y rthe ordinary Wooden stock of the gun, for

apart or the whole of its length, without affecting either the'balancev ofy thev Weapony .ory its operation, or modifying materially its vnormal appearance, f f .y ,y

This silencer or exhaustcharnber may rbe yarranged'so.as'not to beA located for its wholelength around vthe vbarrel b; rsuch an arrangement is represented in the 'form of constructiony in Figure', which differs from the foregoing'only vby vthe fact that the tube c, connected to the recoil-absorber at 01, is at irst placed concentrically'of the barrel I), then swept' downwards yandy yar-y ranged below they barrel forthe remainder of its length, parallel to yther barrely or 'in'r any other manner. This arrangement allows improved cooling of the barrel of the riie; but it may happen in certain cases that it isA necessary to retain the exhaust chamber or tube c placed concentrically of the barrel b' of the rifle, with risk otexcessive heating of the latter; in such case, t-he escape of the gases of combustion from the recoil absorber into the tube o is made to serve to draw in a certai'n quantity of at-l mospheric air (by the draft of air produced by the escape of these gases) through one or -more channels a", see Figure 1, formed in the thickness of the profiled arms a3 of the recoil-absorber and communicating with the exterior.A

Instead of delivering to the silencer the whole of the gases passing at a from the guide-venes of the recoil-absorbed, the duty.

of the silencer and therefore its size and Weight may be reduced by allowing a portion of the gasses to escape into the atmosphere through ports formed in the tubular collector a2 of the. absorber; these ports, arranged either at right angles to the axis of the tire-arm or inclined in relation thereto, as shown at as inFigure 2. are of comparatively small size so that the escape of the gases through these ports takes place without appreciable flash or re ort.

Figs. 3 and 3a represent anot er form of construction, in which the tube c forming the silencer is arranged concentrically around the barrel b of the tire-arm; this tube c is fitted at its front end at c1 upon the recoil-absorber a, a1 a2, and at its rear end at b1 upon the barrel; the tube c is pierced with a large number of small elliptical ports c7 arrangedin quincunx fashion, to allow the escape of the gases after their expansion in this tube, with a reduction of velocity and sound and without flash, in a direction where they cannot injure the personnel ofthe gun.

There may also be employed, as recoilabsorber, in combination with the silencer or projecting device above described a duplex-effect apparatus comprising two recoil-absorbers arranged in tandem. The tube c forming the silencer, and secured to the primary absorberby suitable profiled arms a, is screwed at its rear end at b1 upon the barrel b of the gun; the vanemember 11 of the secondary absorber a is screwed at'a11 upon the front end of this tube, see Figure 4.

It will be understood that the forms lof construct-ion described above have been given gkilven only by way of example and that t ere may be applied thereto a great number of modifications without departing from the principle of the invention, which consists in the fact of connecting directly to vthe lrecoil-absorber a tubular collectorl 'acting in the same way as the exhaust collectors of explosion engines, and having for object to trap the gases used by the recoil-absorber for the braking action and then rejected in a backward direction by the. said recoil-absorber, instead of allowing these.

. gases to expand immediately into the atmosphere in a stream with eddying or divergent currents, so as then either to be merely diverted in a direction non-injurious for the personnel, for example by introducing a bend in the collector, before being rejected to the atmosphere, or alternatively and preferably to be passed into a silencer device which may be formed by the collector itself or by an apparatus like the expansion-chambers employed upon automobiles. vThis silencer arranged behind the muzzleof the gun, expands the gases used by the recoilabsorber, and then rejects them almost without velocity and therefore without noise or flash and without any injurious effect yupon those serving the gun.

What I claim is:

l. In a fire-arm, the combination of a' barrel and of a recoil absorber mounted at the end of said barrel coaxially therewith yand rejecting the gases of combustion in a backward direction, said recoil absorber comprising a nozzle coaxial with the gun muzzle and arranged in extension thereo-f, said nozzle being of divergent shape toward its outer end to afford an expansioncham-j jectile therethrough, and a single annular gas escape passage, opening from the interior yto the exterior of the nozzle, said passage being of increasing cross section toward its discharge end to accelerate the escape of gases therethrough, together with means arranged behind said recoil absorbe-r for collecting substantially the whole of the gases escaping from. said recoil absorber and being of sufficient size topermit substantially complete expansion of saidl gases, and means for allowing said gases after substantially complete expansion -toescape into the atmosphere in a direction non-injurious to the personnel.

2. In a fire-arm, the combination of a barrel and of a recoil absorber, mounted at the end of said barrel coaxially therewith and rejecting the gases of combustion in a backward direction, said recoil absorber comprising a nozzle coaxial with the gun muzzle and arranged in extension thereof` said nozzle being of divergent shape toward its outer end to afford an expansion chamber, an end closure for the nozzle having a central opening for the passage of the. projectile therethrough, and a single annular' gas escape passage opening from the interior to the exterior of the nozzle, said passage being of increasing cross section toward its discharge -end to accelerate the escape of gases therethrough, together with a tube Aassociated with said barrel and arranged behind said recoil absorber to collect substantially the whole of the gases escaping from said recoil absorber andbeing of sufficient size to permit substantially complete exp-ansion of said gases, and means for allowing ssaid gases after substantially complete expansion to escape into the atmosphere in ya direction non-injurious to the personnel. i

3. In a fire-arm, the combination of a barrel, and of a recoil absorber mounted at the end of said barrel coaxially therewith and rejecting the gases of combustion in a backward direction, saidrecoil absorber comprising a nozzle coaxial with the gun muzzle and arranged in extension thereof, said nozzle being of divergent shape toward its outer end to afford an expansion chamber, an end closure for the nozzle having a central opening for the passage of the projectile therethrough, and a single annular gas escape passage, opening from the interior to the exterior of the nozzle, said passage being of increasing cross section toward itsdischarge end to accelerate the escape of gases therethrough, together with a tube arranged concentrically of said barrel behind said recoil absorber to collect substantially the whole of the gases leaving said absorber and being of sufficient size to ber, an end closure for the nozzle having apermit substantially complete expansion of central opening for the passage of the prosaid gases, and `means for allowing said gases after substantially complete expansion to escape into the atmosphere in a direct1on non-injurious to the personnel.

L In a fire-arm, the combination of a barrel and of a recoil absorber mounted at the end otl said barrel coaxially therewith and rejecting the gases of combustion in a backward direction, said recoil absorber comprising a nozzle coaxial with the gun muzzle and arranged in extension thereof, said nozzle being ot' divergent shape toward its outer end to aii'ord an expansion chamber, an end closure for the nozzle having a cen tral opening for the passage of the projectile therethrough, and a single annular gas escape passage opening from the interior to the exterior of the nozzle, said passage being of increasing cross section toward its discharge end to accelerate the escape of gases therethrough, together with a tube arranged concentrically of said barrel behind said recoil absorber and supported on the one hand by said absorber and on the other hand by said barrel for collecting substantiall \v the whole ot' the gases escaping from said absorber and being of sutlicient size to permit substantially complete the expansion of said gases, and means for allowing said gases after substantially complete expansion to escape into the atmosplierc in a direction non-injurious to the personnel.

5. In a tire-arm, the combination of a barrel and of a recoil absorber mounted at the end of said barrel coaxially therewith and rejecting the gases of combustion in a backward direction, said. recoil absorber comprising a nozzle coaxial with the gun muzzle and arranged in extension thereof, said nozzle being of divergent shape toward iis outer end lo a lord an expansion chamber, an end closure for the nozzle having a central opening for the. passage of the projectile therethrough, and a single annular gas escape passage opening from the interior to the exterior of the nozzle, said passage being ot increasing cross section toward its discharge end to accelerate the escape of gases theretlnough, together with a tubular collector placed behind said recoil absorber to collect substantially the Whole of the gases escaping from said recoil absorber and being ot sutlicient size to permit substantially complete expansion of said gases. silencing means in said tubular collector, and means for allowing said gases at'ter substantially complete expansion to escape into the atmosphere in a direction non-injurious to the personnel.

G. In a lire-arm` the combination of a barrel and of a recoil absorber mounted at the end of said barrel coaxially therewith and rejecting the gases of combustion in a backward direction, said recoil absorber comprising anozzle coaxial with the gun muzzle and arranged in extension thereof, said nozzle being of divergent shape toward its outer end to aiord an expansion chamber, an end closure for the nozzle having a central opening for the passage of the projectile therethrough, and a single annular gas escape passage opening from the interior to the exterior of the nozzle, said passage being of increasing cross section toward its discharge end to accelerate the escape ot gases therethrough, together with a tubular collector placed behind said recoil absorber to collect substantially the whole of the gases escaping from said absorber and be ing of sullicient size to permit substantially complete expansion of said gases, openings in said tubular collector for allowing said gases after substantially complete expan sion to escape into the atmosphere, and delecting means within said tubular collector for `diverting said expanded gases towards said openings.

7. In a tire-arm, the combination of a barrel and a plurality of recoil absorbers mounted one behind the other at the end of said barrel coaxially therewith and rejecting the gases of combustion in a backward direction, each of said recoil absorbers comprising a nozzle coaxial with the gun muzzle and arranged in extension thereof, said nozzle being of divergent shape toward its outer end to afford an expansion chamber, an end closure for the nozzle havinga central opening for the passage of the projectile therethrough, and a single annular gas escapev passage, opening' from the interior to the exterior of the nozzle, said passage being of increasing cross section toward its discharge end to accelerate the escape of gases therethrough, together with means arranged behind said recoil absorbers for collecting substantially the whole of the gases escaping from said absorbersi and being of sufficient size to permit substantially complete expansion of said gases, and means for allowing said gases after substantially complete expansion to escape into the atmosphere, in a direction non-injurious to the personnel.

8. In a fire-arm` the combination of a barrel and a plurality of recoil absorbers arranged one behind the other at the end of said barrel coaxially therewith, and rejecting the gases of combustion in a backward direction, each of said recoil absorbers comprising a nozzle coaxial with the gun muzzle and arranged in extension thereof, said nozzle being of divergent shape toward its outer end to afford an expansion chamber, an end closure for the nozzle having a central opening for the passage of the projectile therethrough, and a lsingle annular gas escape passage opening from the interior to the exterior of the nozzle, said passage being of increasing cross section toward its discharge end to accelerate the esabsorbers and being coil absorbers to collect substantially the Whole of the gases escaping from said recoil of suflicient size lto permit substantially complete expansion of said gases, silencing means in said tubular' collector, and means for allowing said gases after substantially complete expansion to escape into the atmosphere in a direction 10 nonjinjurious to the personnel.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specilication.

NORBERT JULES ANDRE GALLIOT.

Witnesses:

F. ARMENGaUD MN, W. DEFERRIMONT. 

